NORWAY
Eurofins
Quality inspection of biological marine products in just minutes
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urofins is one of the world leaders in the field of bioanalytical services for animal feed and food. With more than 200 laboratory branches in 39 countries which analyse, inspect and monitor a large number of raw materials and finished products for authorities, organizations and business customers Eurofins aims this year to achieve a total turnover of 2.5 billion euros. A very ambitious goal, but one which Thommy R. Holmvåg, Business Unit Manager Aqua at Eurofins Food & Feed Testing Norway, considers to be realistic: “Although there have been improvements in the international field of bioanalytics in recent years many companies today still do not have regular access to laboratory and testing capacities. We want to tap these growth opportunities and expand our service offerings.” Thommy R. Holmvåg does not base Eurofins’ claim to market leadership solely on the company’s global market presence but also on the high level and scope of services provided: “We offer our customers an extremely broad spectrum of test and analysis methods from biotechnology to analytical chemistry. Some methods that today determine the state of the art in the analytical field were even developed by Eurofins specialists themselves”. In the area of marine industries Eurofins’ offer includes species determination of fish and www.eurofishmagazine.com
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seafood, composition of fish feed in aquaculture, fishmeal and fish oil as well as analysis of carcasses and processed products. This means that the company covers practically the whole range of requirements from aquaculture and fisheries, through the different processing stages to the wholesale and retail trade. The company offers everything that leads to information on the composition, origin and quality of products: pollutants and residue analysis, DNA sequencing, microbiological testing, and more besides. Seafood is today traded worldwide in ever increasing quantities – and unfortunately not always honestly. Anyone who wants to be absolutely sure that they are getting what it says on the label cannot get around laboratory testing. With modern analytical techniques it is possible to examine production methods (for example, expensive organic products) and origins and to recognize whether fish from aquaculture are declared as wild caught or whether cheaper shrimps or fish species might have been mixed in with the ordered product. With the help of DNA fingerprinting it is possible to detect even minute traces of Listeria and analyze exactly at which point in the value chain the contamination occurs. Eurofins’ ultrafast QTA quality testing method is particularly attractive: it enables users to
Thommy R. Holmvåg, Unit Manager Aqua: Eurofins supplies reliable products together with fast, competent professional customer service whenever you need it.
test biological marine products such as fishmeal and fish oil, fish hydrolysates, marine proteins and many other substances without having to have their own laboratory or qualified personnel – and without having to wait long for the results. NIR analysis (Near Infrared Spectroscopy) is based on reflection and absorption measurements of infrared radiation. All the user needs is an approximately fish crate sized measuring device that is connected to the Eurofins headquarters via the Internet. For analysis the product simply has
to be placed on the sensor. The measured data are sent via the Internet to the control centre at headquarters, compared with databases and already one or two minutes later the results appear on the computer screen. It is possible, for example in the case of fishmeal, to measure the water and protein content, the fat and ash contents. In the case of fish oil, the NIR analysis provides information about the concentration of omega-3 fatty acids such as EPA and DHA, as well as glycerides, ethyl esters and antioxidants. Eurofish Magazine 6 / 2016
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28/11/16 11:13 PM